A blizzard roared through the Upper Midwest on Monday, centering much of its fury on south-central, southwest and west-central Minnesota and parts of northern Iowa.

Transportation departments in Minnesota and South Dakota closed Interstate 90 Monday from Albert Lea to Chamberlain, S.D. Iowa and Minnesota officials closed Interstate 35 from Albert Lea to Ames, Iowa.

I-90 reopened at 8:30 a.m.; I-35 at 9:45 a.m.

The blizzard calmed overnight and the National Weather Service blizzard warning went away for Minnesota. However, much of Iowa, including Worth and Winnebago counties, remained in a winter weather advisory for this morning.

Other routes closed because of the blizzard, too. Minnesota Highway 109 closed from Wells to Alden. Minnesota Highway 22 closed from the Iowa border to Blue Earth County Road 15 north of Beauford.

Minnesota Highway 30 closed from New Richland to Waterville. U.S. Highway 13 closed from near Meriden in Steele County to old Highway 14 in Janesville in Waseca County. U.S. Highway 169 closed from the Iowa border to Blue Earth County Road 9 north of Garden City.

City Mph Time

Albert Lea 35 11 a.m.

Alexandria 40 11 a.m.

Clara City 49 noon

Fairmont 44 11 a.m.

Faribault 33 8 a.m.

Hanley Falls 50 noon

Mankato 43 noon

Minneapolis 37 2 a.m.

Morris 58 10 a.m.

New Ulm 46 noon

Owatonna 35 6 a.m.

Olivia 49 noon

Redwood Falls 47 8 a.m.

St. Cloud 33 3 a.m.

Waseca 47 7 a.m.

Willmar 45 11 a.m.

Selected cities monitored by the National Weather Service’s Chanhassen bureau. (Worthington, for instance, is monitored by the Sioux Falls, S.D., bureau.)

Minnesota Highway 253 closed from Kiester to I-90, and Highway 254 closed from Frost to I-90.

In other words, pretty much all highways west of Albert Lea and Waseca closed. They, too, reopened this morning.

Schools across the region let out early on Monday, including Albert Lea and surrounding school districts.

Albert Lea, Alden-Conger, United South Central and Northwood-Kensett are among many schools that started two hours late today.

United South Central in Wells closed today. So did schools in Lake Mills and in Blue Earth.

Others starting two hours late in the area, as of press time this morning, were Glenville-Emmons, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, Clear Lake, Mason City, Southland, LeRoy-Ostrander, Lyle, Forest City, Mankato, Grand Meadow, Fairmont, Ventura, St. Peter and New Ulm.

St. Theodore Catholic School and Hollandale Christian School also were delayed by two hours today.

The National Weather Service explained the storm: “As a deep low-pressure system bottomed out Monday morning over Lake Superior, strong northwest winds prevailed across much of the Upper Midwest.”

The Minnesota National Guard opened armories in Olivia, Marshall and St. James to motorists caught in the storm Monday. Minnesota Department of Safety spokesman Doug Neville said about 150 people sought shelter at the armories, at a law enforcement center in Windom and at a school in Luverne.

And in Westbrook, impassable roads kept 100 students overnight at the high school and another 100 at the elementary school.

High school principal Bill Richards said students slept on wrestling mats with boys on one side of the gym, girls on the other and Richards in the middle.

Minnesota officials kept state offices closed until 10 a.m. today in Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Jackson, LeSeuer, Martin, McLeod, Nicollet, Nobles, Rock, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan counties.

Today’s forecast calls for scattered flurries before 9 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 10. The wind chill is predicted to be between 7 below and 17 below. A blustery west northwest wind will be between 15 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.